This invention relates to a carton that can be used to ship products to the point of sale, and when at the point of sale can be use to hold and display the products. More particularly, this invention relates to a carton which can be easily opened and when opened, can be used to attractively display the contents of the carton.
Most goods are shipped to the point of sale using a shipping carton. Such a carton holds the product or products firmly in place and prevents the products from being damaged during shipping. At the point of sale such cartons are cut open and the product contents placed on a shelf for display and sale. This includes the manual removing of each product item from the carton and placing it on the shelf. The shipping carton then is crushed and set for disposal, usually where the corrugate of the carton is recycled. This manual removing of each item from a carton is time consuming. It is preferred to have a carton which also can be used to display the items on a shelf. Then a carton with one or more dozen units of products can be put onto the shelf in one operation. This savings in time results in a direct reduction in costs.
A combined display and shipping carton can be very useful. However, it must function well in several areas. It must be sufficiently strong to protect the products being shipped during shipping and handling. It must be easily openable, and must open in the same way every time. And after being opened, it must be attractive and hold the units of products so that they do not fall over or out of the carton when consumers are removing units of the products for purchase. The same carton must meet the shipping requirements and the display requirements.
The present shipper/display carton solves the problem of a convenient shipping and display carton for products such as cosmetics, toiletries, baby care products, liquid soaps, shampoos, household cleaners and polishes, auto care products, pet care products and many others. This is a wide range of goods where the products are packaged from about a dozen up to about four dozen units into a carton. The size of the individual containers will dictate the number of units in a shipper carton. This shipper/display carton provides good protection during shipping, is easy opening, opens in a consistent manner, has a good shelf appearance, and holds the products in a neat array on the shelf at the point of sale.
The present shipper/display carton is directed for use with a plurality of bottles, dispensers, applicators and such products that usually are stacked on shelves in supermarkets, drugstores, discounts stores and price clubs. It precludes having to individually remove each item from a carton and to place it individually onto a shelf.
The shipper and display carton is comprised of a front panel, a rear panel, and two side panels, each connecting the front and rear panels. Each of these panels will have closure flaps. There also will be a glue flap appended to one of the panels. This structure makes the carton a shipper carton.
In order to make it a display carton, part of the carton is made removable. This is accomplished by a weakened area across the lower end of the front panel, then substantially diagonally across each side panel, and across a top area of the rear panel. In a preferred mode the substantially diagonal weakened area of the side panel adjacent the weakened area of the rear panel is substantially weaker than the remaining parts of the weakened area, and in a most preferred embodiment, is a slit or an opening. The rear panel further in a preferred mode will have the weakened area across a top edge and a grip aperture to be used when opening the shipper carton and to convert it to a display carton.
The carton is opened by gripping the rear panel grip aperture and pulling upward to remove the rear panel upward to remove the rear panel top flap, a substantial portion of each side panel and the front panel, and the top flaps associated with each sidewall and the front wall. This removes a substantial portion of the shipper carton converting it into a display carton.